Thank you, UNM COE Dean, Committee Members, Staff

Dear UNM COE Dean, TED Faculty and Staff Members,

Thank you your generosity, time and expertise during our visit, November 5, 2010. Thank you, Committee members, for your collegial dialogue and feedback in refining our proposals before implementing our reflective research next semester.

Please enjoy the photo slideshow of our visit.

Personalize a free digital slideshow

Frances & TED Teacher Practitioners

Midterm Reflection Fall 2010

Please read my Midterm Reflection

I look forward to reading yours. Thank you, Frances

This free photo slideshow customized with Smilebox

Maps of your Professional Journeys

Digital slideshow customized with Smilebox

We Must Shift From Teacher Quality to Teaching Quality

Wise (2010) article in Education Week confirms the efficacy and professionalism of practitioner research, especially with the following words:

Accountability, at its essence, is not a goal; it is the acceptance of responsibility for all that we do in our classrooms, day in and day out. Accountability, when embraced for what it is, turns out to be not some sort of punitive “gotcha”; instead, it is what drives commitment to continuous examination, reflection, and improvement.

Despite the upside of accountability, we have failed to manage its unforeseen downside: a tendency to look back at regimented instruction with a sanitized fondness. It seems we have, in our profession, lost the will to acknowledge and leverage the multiple ways in which children learn—or to recognize the multiple ways children fail to learn when ineffective teaching is all that a classroom provides. We have, perhaps, become a nation of educators focusing wholly on the what of teaching, without effectively confronting the far messier (but pivotal) how of teaching.

"Accountability, at its essence, is not a goal; it is the acceptance of responsibility for all that we do in our classrooms, day in and day out."

Reference

Wise, J.  (September,  2010). We Must Shift From Teacher Quality to Teaching Quality. Education Week, 30(03).  Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/09/08/03wise.h30.html?tkn=MSCC%2BvEe0sc25LHuHWg5%2FnT0snoLFaDEjf%2Fj&cmp=clp-sb-ascd

More Thoughtful Guidance

There has been much discussion among the Elementary and Secondary TED Faculty about what constitutes credible MA capstone practitioner research for the MA examination.

TED Secondary Education Chairperson Lyn Oshima further defines what the practitioner research should be. Our masters program is similiar to the  M. A. in Reflective Practice (MARP) and mirrors goals for your practitioner research narratives. The following is excerpted from a recent email from Dr. Oshima to Coila and myself. I think her workds will help clarify the process and content involved during your capstone experience.
________________
Attending the presentations at Farmington were a good reminder of how personal the culmination of their degree program should be. Deciding what the product should has been a topic for frequent discussion by the faculty.
This first MARP cohort gave us an opportunity to experiment with the format. Here is how the paper was described to them:
They were to review course syllabi and major course assignments from all MARP courses. They were to identify themes in what they learned and areas of their practice in which they have put their learning to use.
The final paper was to present students' individual journeys through the program, documenting what they learned both theoretically and practically. Their conclusion was to end with a description of specific directions they see for further learning and growth. They were expected to reference literature previously studied in coursework and augment this literature with current relevant literature that is needed to support their understandings and future directions. The oral and visual presentation should demonstrate and best represent what they learned and planned to do in the future.
Their references to readings and past assignments were consistent across the students. From this cohort came a clearer purpose for the MA exam/paper. We asked what matters at this level of graduate study for experienced professionals? We believe it is to understand why and how they learn and apply it to student learning in their classrooms. (Email, Dr. Lyn Oshima, September 9, 2010)

9 September 2010

Thank you for an intellectually stimulating evening. Your intellectual history maps provided you with a direction to talk about your research questions. Thinking about your map hopefully informed writing your Teacher Reflection #1  introducing yourself as a teacher. Please create a new page on your Social Justice webpage and post your Teacher Reflections on them.

• Teacher Reflection #2 (9/16) will focus on making deliberate connections to your master's coursework and other courses and how they influence and relate to your classroom. See page 12 of our syllabus.
• Teacher Reflection #3 (9/23) will focus on what you know about practitioner research and how you identify yourself as a teacher practitioner.
• Teacher Reflection #4 (9/30) will focus on your emerging question related to your classroom and why this is important for you and your students as co-researchers.

Please continue to reread, edit and refine each of your Teacher Reflections above for they will become the beginning sections of your Teacher Practitioner Descriptive Narrative.

On Thursday, September 23, we will conduct a Research Overview including APA style and talk more about our text Chapters 1, 2, 3, along with our Avery, Capitelli and Malarkey articles.

Since half of you will be attending Parent Conferences on Thursday, September 16, a Work at Home night is our alternative plan. Therefore, we will not meet.

Please read your syllabus, taking note of page 14, Checklist of Research Process for this semester.